If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.

When a problem threatens to engulf you, there's nothing like irrelevant detail to keep your head above water.

[My novels] introduce levels of intelligence ... moral doubt [and] self-doubt, which may not pertain [to real-world espionage].

It's the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies?

The trouble is, when professional spies go out of their way to make a definitive statement about one of their own, the public tends to believe the opposite: which puts us all back where we started.

More particularly, having a largely German-oriented education has made me very responsive to 19th-century German literature.

When you're my age and you see a story, you better go for it pretty quickly. I'd just like to get a few more novels under my belt.